.... I thought I'd update the sad collection of tubby runners aka The
Devotees Of Rec.Running with what's happening in my small but jolly
exciting world.
Well, running chums, I'm currently living in Ho Chi Minh City,
Vietnam. That's 'Saigon' to yankees of a certain age. As to what I'm
doing here... well, let's not get too specific. I don't like to
spoil the mystery. Suffice to say I'm enjoying myself immensely
although I can't speak a word of the language. Actually, that's not
true. I can ask for a Vietnamese iced coffee, say 'hello', 'why' and
recite my address in Vietnamese.
I've been here four months now and it looks like I'm staying. I have
a girl, a house, a little mo'bike and gym membership. Yup. Gym
membership.
Remember how I used to berate runners silly enough to run on a
treadmill? Guess what the heat and traffic have reduced me to...
That's right; a sad treadmill runner. My god, it's sheer hell. I
would rather run three hours uphill on sand than spend ten minutes on
a treadmill. It's misery squared.
I googled my name before writing and I see you're still obsessing over
who I am. You silly dumplings! I was always precisely who I said I
was! Knowing my love of irony you should have guessed that long
ago :-)
Did Ozzie ever return? I hope so. I felt rather guilty over his
demise; though he should have developed a thicker skin, the big
woosie. I hope Surf and Dan and Wobbot and Steve and Tim and Doug and
Donovan and Lance and Mary 049 and all the other crazies are still
around. Really, you guys made that place so much fun. When it was
firing on all cylinders, rec.running was the BEST newsgroup around. I
hope it still has some of the momentum and clashes which made it such
fun. They were great days, huh?
Anyway, I have a race on Sunday in Ho Chi Minh City. 4k on the road.
If the results are placed on the web I'll drop a linky here so you can
all marvel at my running skills, which were always far in excess of
yours. If not, I may post a link to my pic. I'll post it somewhere
so you can gaze in admiration. I may lie about my finishing position
though... :-)
Love to you all. We'll speak again one day I'm sure.
r.xx.